Four members of the University faculty testified yesterday in a closed hearing before the education subcommittee of the Massachusetts Commission investigating Communism and subversive activities.

Four M.I.T. professors also appeared before the committee.

The subcommittee officially released the name of only one witness, Kirtley F. Mather, professor of Geology. It is known, however, that Harlow Shapley, Paine Professor of Practical Astronomy, and Mrs. Helen Deane Markham, assistant professor of Anatomy, also testified. Mrs. Markham, whose contract expires in June, has twice invoked the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution when testifying before the Jenner Committee of the United States Senate.

One additional member of the faculty also testified, but he remained unidentified.

Mather Statement

The testimony given at the hearing was kept secret. However, both State Representative Mrs. Mary B. Newman, wife of Edwin B. Newman, lecturer on Psychology, and Richard Buckley, who conducted the meeting, disclosed that one of the witnesses invoked the Fifth Amendment in answer to committee questions.

Leaving the State House after more than an hour on the witness stand, Mather said, "The committee was interested in investigation of cases of infiltration with which I was familiar. I welcomed the opportunity to indicate the efforts at infiltration with which I was familiar, many of which were unsuccessful.

"The committee was not interested in investigating me; and testifying was a pleasant experience," he added.

Mrs. Newman had previously stated that the subcommittee was "merely conducting an investigation. Just because someone is summoned before it, it does not mean that he is guilty," she said.